God is Great; Beer is Good; and People are Crazy

What a month, there are so many things to write about. In my last post, I mentioned something about how the weather was heating up... talk about an understatement. Record high temperatures blanketed all of Texas this past month. Probably one of the worst decisions of my life was when I endured through a full round of golf for 5 hours on a day when the thermometer read 107 degrees.

With that being said, spending July 4th weekend at a lake house was the perfect answer. It was such a great time, I got to spend it with great people and eat good food. The last full day we were there, I wanted to take advantage of it--so, I was literally in the lake for 4-5 hours, showered, ate dinner, and then proceeded to dance on the dock for another 4 hours (at times, even by myself). My inner "Albert Brennamen" came out and I just let loose. The weekend was full of good conversations, lots of joy and laughter, and I even got to play some mahjong. It was awesome getting to hang out with Phil, we've missed you man. I don't know when exactly, but I will visit you in China someday.

Over the last month, I started writing reviews on yelp. I've gone to this website for years now to read up on reviews of restaurants and food, so it was time for me to do my part. I am not a fan of all those long entries that are better suited for short stories, telling people about their journey to the restaurant and things like that. When I go to yelp, I just want to read about the food, the service, and the price. Thus, that is how I will write my reviews... short and sweet. (just find me using my email address: alnguyen84@gmail.com)

I also went to see a lot of movies in June; Transformers, Star Trek, Up, The Hangover, and Public Enemy to name a few. The best summer movie so far has been Star Trek in my opinion. Hopefully, HARRY POTTER will take over that crown when it comes out in a couple weeks. They delayed the release date for 7 months, so it better be worth all that waiting. I'm definitely going to the IMAX for this one.

RIP Michael Jackson. I know this may sound a little weird and overly dramatic, but I was genuinely sad on the day that he passed away. I got a text message from an old friend early that morning and I was pretty surprised by it because we really don't talk anymore. But she knew that when I was growing up, I was completely enamored by Michael Jackson and I guess she wanted to be the one that broke the news to me... and man was I in utter shock. During the first couple hours after I received the text, I had the TV on CNN and was checking every news outlet on the web to see if it was true. When it was finally confirmed, I was in a state of disbelief. I know people say that he was weird--his face, his voice, his actions, his clothes, even his skin color, etc. but I never cared about all the stuff. I just looked at him as a performer--and he was the best that ever did it. He was simply ahead of his time; his music, his dancing, his aura. I challenge anyone to do a biographical research on his life without getting affected by it. On that Friday after he passed, I went to a Michael Jackson tribute concert that was held in downtown Austin. Watching everyone there singing their hearts out and dancing til their legs fell off just made me realize that even though Michael Jackson the person was gone, his legend lives on. Nobody there was crying or sad, there was a smile on everyone's face and that is how I will remember him.

So in the last month, I went on sort of a binge with my physical activities--golf, basketball, volleyball, tennis, bocce ball, softball, football, swimming, running sprints, and other stuff that I can't remember at the moment. If you need someone to join you when you work out or anything, please feel free to call me up!

As far as the next few weeks are concerned, I do not have anything major planned... I will be slowly moving stuff down to San Antonio, spending as much time as I can with friends, and I am going to California in early August.

IF and that is still a big if; the Mavericks manage to re-sign Kidd, pick up Gortat, and trade for Marion, I would consider the summer a success. However, we're not going to know if these transactions/rumors become official for another couple of weeks so we'll see what ends up happening.

For those who want to stalk me even more, follow me on twitter! I love tweeting. (www.twitter.com/alnguyen84)

Make lots of memories and don't forget to appreciate the joys of life.

Faith and trust in Him,
Albert Nguyen